I think so... Especially if EoE was parallel to EoTV.When Shinji says "But maybe I could love myself" a few seconds before "Congratulations", we also hear Rei and Asuka saying the same thing in the original Japanese version (not the English dub, though).In Episode 25 and some of 26, we also see that Rei is undergoing the similar Instrumentality therapy that Shinji, Asuka, and all of humanity go through.And, when Shinji gets out of Instrumentality, he comes across Asuka and we all know what happens next.

However, didn't Rei merge with Lilith and turn into GNR, which initiates Third Impact?GNR also brutally died and decayed with her decapitated head falling into Earth and the moon being partially covered with blood, after Shinji refuses Instrumentality.

It can be presumed that Rei comes out of the decaying, decapitated head of GNR then sees Shinji and Asuka together (like in the Magokoro wo, Kimi ni poster/US DVD cover) and follows them, maybe in a similar fashion to 3.33's ending.

And, since Yui said that the rest of humanity will eventually come back, maybe the first three Children are the first ones to get Un-Tanged.

Do you think this theory is plausible? Or are there holes in my theory?

I don't believe Rei was reconstituted after EoE ended, having moved onto to a higher plane of existence, as assumed by Shinji's vision of Rei in Episode 1. She merged with Lilith and Adam (and perhaps Kaworu as well) into some kind of god, and her soul was that of Lilith's which was not human, and for those reasons, I see that there isn't much chance of her coming back from the godly plane.

Voted in college to be Most likely to Take Over the World, how to do that however, will require at leastFour Evangelions. Thanks for the idea Misato-san!"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." Said at the beginning of the nuclear age by J. Robert Oppenheimer."That which does not kill us makes us stronger." Words of Wisdom from German Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.

Based on my interpretation of Rei's character in Neon Genesis (at least the original anime series, my views of Sadamoto's manga differ), I highly doubt she would return to human form. Rei is clearly uncomfortable simply existing, she's the soul of a god forced into a fake body, a clone of someone who was a major part in kicking all this off. She may even see Yui as the one who forced her into a Lilin body in the first place, trying to steal Lilith's role as god of Lilin. I think it would be damaging to Shinji, as even knowing she was his mom's body with the soul of a god (how would he not learn this during Instrumentality? Everyone was everyone), it's likely he would still want to be friends with her. I'm sure he could differentiate the two from each other.This isn't to say Rei didn't come back. The Quantum Rei are proof of this. Instead of completely disappearing, Lilith instead decided to keep her role as god of Lilin, however, instead of doing so from one place and continually acting as a literal fountain of youth, constantly outputting LCL, she decided to become sort of a Holy Spirit type entity, existing in all places at once, and taking the form of Rei when she wants to be seen. Her soul now encapsulates the entire planet in my eyes. That's why Rei appeared before Shinji in the first episode and the last, to let him know that Lilith has always been there and that she will always be there, watching over her children as the same type of loving mother Yui was. Rei's statement from episode 6 in the changing room is more true than many realize, "I'll be protecting you".

I've reached a point where I just generally don't give a fuck anymore. In a good way.

AdamMalkobitch wrote:Based on my interpretation of Rei's character in Neon Genesis (at least the original anime series, my views of Sadamoto's manga differ), I highly doubt she would return to human form. Rei is clearly uncomfortable simply existing, she's the soul of a god forced into a fake body, a clone of someone who was a major part in kicking all this off. She may even see Yui as the one who forced her into a Lilin body in the first place, trying to steal Lilith's role as god of Lilin. I think it would be damaging to Shinji, as even knowing she was his mom's body with the soul of a god (how would he not learn this during Instrumentality? Everyone was everyone), it's likely he would still want to be friends with her. I'm sure he could differentiate the two from each other.This isn't to say Rei didn't come back. The Quantum Rei are proof of this. Instead of completely disappearing, Lilith instead decided to keep her role as god of Lilin, however, instead of doing so from one place and continually acting as a literal fountain of youth, constantly outputting LCL, she decided to become sort of a Holy Spirit type entity, existing in all places at once, and taking the form of Rei when she wants to be seen. Her soul now encapsulates the entire planet in my eyes. That's why Rei appeared before Shinji in the first episode and the last, to let him know that Lilith has always been there and that she will always be there, watching over her children as the same type of loving mother Yui was. Rei's statement from episode 6 in the changing room is more true than many realize, "I'll be protecting you".

This is by far the sweetest interpretation of EoE I have ever seen.

Why don't you save the Princess next time instead of being such a baby? She would love it and maybe you could get a sweet kiss. ~ sadly not Mari in Q (Joseki)

AdamMalkovitch wrote:Based on my interpretation of Rei's character in Neon Genesis (at least the original anime series, my views of Sadamoto's manga differ), I highly doubt she would return to human form. Rei is clearly uncomfortable simply existing, she's the soul of a god forced into a fake body, a clone of someone who was a major part in kicking all this off. She may even see Yui as the one who forced her into a Lilin body in the first place, trying to steal Lilith's role as god of Lilin. I think it would be damaging to Shinji, as even knowing she was his mom's body with the soul of a god (how would he not learn this during Instrumentality? Everyone was everyone), it's likely he would still want to be friends with her. I'm sure he could differentiate the two from each other.This isn't to say Rei didn't come back. The Quantum Rei are proof of this. Instead of completely disappearing, Lilith instead decided to keep her role as god of Lilin, however, instead of doing so from one place and continually acting as a literal fountain of youth, constantly outputting LCL, she decided to become sort of a Holy Spirit type entity, existing in all places at once, and taking the form of Rei when she wants to be seen. Her soul now encapsulates the entire planet in my eyes. That's why Rei appeared before Shinji in the first episode and the last, to let him know that Lilith has always been there and that she will always be there, watching over her children as the same type of loving mother Yui was. Rei's statement from episode 6 in the changing room is more true than many realize, "I'll be protecting you".

I didn't Know we where calling Serial Experiments Lain End of Evangelion now :P

Because the point in the ending (to me) is Shinji coming back to reality, Rei was never real, I guess you could say she was "too pure for this world" lol

Shinji: "Sooner or later I'll be betrayed... And they'll leave me. Still... I want to meet them again, because I believe my feelings at that time were real."Ryuko: "I'm gonna knock ya on your asses!"-Asuka: THINK IN GERMAN!!! -Shinji: Öh... Baumkuchen...Hayashida: "As game developers, our work is special. All of us here can put smiles on very many people's faces with our work.""In any case, it (Kill la Kill) is the greatest work of fiction ever written and should be taught in schools." -Squigsquasher~('.'~) (~'.')~ Dancin Kirby

Well, in many respects, Rei was not corrupted in any way by society due to her isolation from it by Gendo. She (Rei III) was also pure in the sense that she was still, in essence, a child who had just been (re)born.

Voted in college to be Most likely to Take Over the World, how to do that however, will require at leastFour Evangelions. Thanks for the idea Misato-san!"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." Said at the beginning of the nuclear age by J. Robert Oppenheimer."That which does not kill us makes us stronger." Words of Wisdom from German Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.

I personally think its because Rei was a god this didn't happen as gods don't think in the same terms as humanity time to them is very different, so your giving Rei a person who has never had a great deal of power all the power in the world and I feel she would would explore this new power in every way possible and learn everything she could abut humanity.

Its why I believe Shinji sees the god version at the very start of the anime because she looking back and forward in time simultaneously and seeing him getting in to Misato's car as well as seeing him on the beach with Asuka. Also though god Rei may be viewing Shinji's mind the reality is she may also be viewing thousands of people thoughts in instrumentality simultaneously because that is what it is to be a god you have zero limitations.

Anywhere can be paradise as long as you have the will to live. After all, you are alive, so you will always have the chance to be happy.

Voted in college to be Most likely to Take Over the World, how to do that however, will require at leastFour Evangelions. Thanks for the idea Misato-san!"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." Said at the beginning of the nuclear age by J. Robert Oppenheimer."That which does not kill us makes us stronger." Words of Wisdom from German Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.

In keeping with a more Christian interpretation, Rei herself was Lilith being housed in flesh. Lilith is the parallel to God the Father, herself being God the Mother. Rei as an incarnation of Lilith in Lilin form is the parallel to Jesus being an incarnation of God in human form, God the Son/the Son of Man (or in her case, God the Daughter/the Daughter of Lilin), and Quantum Rei is the parallel to God the Holy Spirit/Ghost... God the Holy Spirit/Ghost.

The Holy Spirit is the personification of God that, after Christ's crucifixion and resurrection, comes to reside within any who accept Christ as their Lord God and Savior, and that he represents the one true path to their Salvation (that salvation being their reconciliation with God). They are told to not take the task of overcoming their sinful nature upon themselves, but to rely on the Holy Spirit residing within their minds and hearts to guide their actions and allow them to embody a character and pattern of behavior that reflects God.

In other words, the Holy Spirit is the third aspect (or as Christians claim, literally a third person that is God, with Jesus being a second person that is God, and God the Father being the first person that is God--all three are equally God yet equally separate... people) of God that will forever reside within the hearts and minds of Christians. Similarly, Kaworu and Rei tell Shinji, when asked what they are within his own heart/mind and those of others, they reply they are the hope that people will one day understand one another, and the words "I love you." So they literally reference in EOE continuing on to exist within the hearts and minds of all Lilin, just like the Holy Spirit does within people reborn as Christians.

I think it does, she freed herself from Gendo and became the controlling force instead.

Shinji: "Sooner or later I'll be betrayed... And they'll leave me. Still... I want to meet them again, because I believe my feelings at that time were real."Ryuko: "I'm gonna knock ya on your asses!"-Asuka: THINK IN GERMAN!!! -Shinji: Öh... Baumkuchen...Hayashida: "As game developers, our work is special. All of us here can put smiles on very many people's faces with our work.""In any case, it (Kill la Kill) is the greatest work of fiction ever written and should be taught in schools." -Squigsquasher~('.'~) (~'.')~ Dancin Kirby

Lt Light Ark wrote:I have my doubts if she did really ended up as a spiritual godly being, I mean, being a God often seems pleasant, but EVA doesn't play it as a good thing...

Issue of whether or not that's true aside, something being good or bad has no bearing on its veracity. The union of Adam and Lilith created a God, whether of not that's good is irrelevant to it being true.

The question is less wether she'd want to but whether she can come back, and whether I'd fit into the cosmology andthematic style of the show.

She doesn't really have a body anymore and could be considered to have ascended to a higher level of consciousness; Besides she was always very much presented with tragic vibes, there's a sense that she, like Kaworu, was a person that Shinji had a special connection with but ultimately lost, and that being something he'd have to cope with in the process of maturation.

On the other hand, though she's not easy to spot, she IS in the photo of the people whom Shinji "wanted to see again" which might be taken as a hint in theother direction.

But if it were possible, I don't think it's unlikely that she went through her very own "to be or not to be" spiel (see ep 25); It's not a question of "keeping Shinji waiting", or her "inherent nature", - she too would have many force,factors and motivations pulling her in many directions (like most other cast members). During the actual Ti she seemed to see points to both sides ("the world is full of emptiness"/ "but then what is your hand for?") - that's why she got Shinji's imput in the first place. She used to be a cult member ish true believer in Gendo's masterplan but after all that took place she wasn't certain anymore.

Perhaps she'd be the last to show up, after having completed Lillith's "job" of watching over humanity.